First weekend notes

My friend Meghan told me once during some down time at a rehearsal for our high school production of Hello, Dolly that using real food in a play was bad luck. In the years that followed, I never found that to be the case. I mean, the only problems I've ever had with real food onstage were:

1. Not chewing my bruschetta quickly enough during Musical Comedy Murders to be able to say my next line. (Or worrying about a loose crumb making me cough when I was supposed to be dead...)

2. My mother thinking I was an actual beer drinker after I tossed a quarter of one back during Baylin. (And that wasn't a problem as much as it was a great laugh at Easter one year.)

However, for the first time ever, I discovered a downside to using real food as props during a play: What if someone accidentally eats it?

I'm not going into any more detail than that, but I would like you to imagine a group of people rifling through the trash to find last night's salisbury steak to use in the scene of the same name.

More B-side moments from opening weekend:

Good: Shouting out the phrase "Marshmallow herb and rose petals" from offstage when asked during the curtain speech what's in the herbal cigarettes we use during the play. Better: When one cast member (who shall remain nameless) added, "And they smell like fish!"

Trying not to laugh through my scene with Rob Fonda. I know Jordan will get me one of these days (he's the reigning champ of cracking people up onstage in this production), but last weekend, I had the hardest time keeping a straight face in my scene with Beethoven.

Having the music played during bows running through all the cast members' heads well after curtain calls. I don't think there is one of us who doesn't sing or whistle the intro as we're changing back into our street clothes...